February 20, 2012 at 02:42
Dave
Larry Ferlazzo has a great article outlining more ways to differentiate the curriculum. Seeing as 'differentiation' is the main focus of our school this year, I thought it would be worth posting some of his ideas.
He sets up a framework using '5'....
Five Ways to Set the Stage:
Assessing
Building Relationships
Keeping Students Moving Forward
Teaching Life-Skill Lessons
Creating a Community of Learners
Five Day-to-Day Actions
Applying the Zeigarnik Efect
Differentiating Assignment
Using Computers
Praising Effort and Learning From Mistakes
Flexible Grouping
A very helpful framework for processing differentiation, check out the full...
February 20, 2012 at 02:28
Dave
Later this year I'll be diving into the world of the Holocaust. Luckily for me, Larry Ferlazzo has a list of the best resources for learning about the Holocaust. Check out his FULL LIST, or here are a few of my favourites from his list:
“Auschwitz After 65 Years” is the title of a TIME Magazine slideshow.
Glencoe has a multimedia presentation on the Holocaust.
Lessons of Auschwitz is an interactive from CBS News.
How Stuff Works has an excellent collection of short and accessible online videos about the Holocaust.
The History Channel has an excellent site on the Holocaust.
The BBC has a good animation about concentration camps, particularly Auschwitz, bu...
February 20, 2012 at 02:23
Dave
Check out TPACK - a way for understanding the use of technology in teaching and learning:
TPACK is based on the need for teachers to use technology to support effective instructional strategies aligned with their content. I want these soon-to-be teachers to understand that using technology in the classroom is not about tools but about teaching and learning. We have spent a great deal of time face-to-face and online discussing the TPACK framework and its implications for them currently as well as in their future classrooms. I asked my students to create a visual representation of their own technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge for their specific discipline and...
February 20, 2012 at 02:17
Dave
Google + is now rolling out for under 18s, which means that it should open up for use in Secondary Schools in the near future!
I've emailed Google trying to unlock our secondary school Google Apps for Education account and am yet to hear back. Has anyone had any luck at getting their secondary schools onto Google+?
Check out full information from ZDNET:
Google+ rolls out to teens with new safety enhancements
February 15, 2012 at 23:14
Dave
Collaborize Classroom is a free, online, collaborative, digital space for delivering courses and creating interaction between students in your classroom.
With Collaborize Classroom:
Get 100% student participation.
Save on monthly printing costs.
Reduce grading time by up to 2 hours a week.
Receive detailed participation reports.
With the new Topic Library:
Access the best curriculum online.
Create and share topics, lessons & assignments.
Download peer-reviewed topic-based lessons.
Check out this overview of Collaborize Classroom:
Check out what this Year 9/10 English teacher has to say:
February 15, 2012 at 23:09
Dave
Schoology, so far, looks like the best, most intuitive, best-resembling a social-media experience, yet for educational learning management systems. Here's what they say about themselves:
Schoology offers education without walls
With Schoology, educators can do things as simple as posting assignments, quizzes and links to additional resources or as sophisticated as conducting online courses, providing one-on-one remediation, or hosting discussions.
Schoology connects students and parents to educators and learning resources anytime, anywhere in a safe, secure online environment.
Check out the overview at ABOUT SCHOOLOGY.
February 15, 2012 at 22:45
Dave
Mindshift has a great list of technology trends to look out for in 2012, including:
MOBILE PHONES
BYOD (BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE)
BANDWIDTH ISSUES
NATURAL USER INTERFACES
WEB APPS (HTML5)
DATA
ADAPTIVE LEARNING
PRIVACY/SECURITY
OPEN LICENSING
PEER TO PEER
THE MAKER MOVEMENT
GAMING
Head over and check out the explanations of each of the categories at 12 Education Tech Trends to Watch in 2012.
February 15, 2012 at 22:15
Dave
Richard Byrne, over at Free Technology for Teachers has created a new site called Android 4 Schools.
He has also got a List of 29 Android Apps that are well worth checking out.
February 15, 2012 at 20:46
Dave
Free Tech for Teachers has a list of 7 great resources for teaching anatomy and physiology. This isn't my area of expertise, but I know many of you out there will be looking for tools like this in your science classrooms!
Check out the video of BioDigital Human below, along with the Man as Industrial Palace 'zoom-it' and then head over to the post to see the entire list: 7 Resources for Teaching and Learning Anatomy and Physiology.
February 15, 2012 at 20:39
Dave
The Wall Street Journal has a report on some interesting research that suggests that ranking students can reduce IQ. Seeing as our entire education system is built on such ranking, perhaps this confirms many of my suspicions that we need to find another way to reward and stimulate a desire for learning amongst students.
Here's a bit of a snapshot of the study:
A new study underscores the degree to which cognition is shaped by social environment — and, indeed, that cognitive and social processing can’t be disentangled, its authors say.
The study involved 70 high achievers, including students from Cal Tech and Baylor College of Medicine. The participants first took...
